MUMBAI,
April 20, 2018 Raising an alarm over the all round environmental
dangers being faced by the city, a group of concerned citizens have joined a
social communication campaign called #BoomCityDoomCity on the eve of the Earth
Day.

Participating in a media
seminar at Mumbai Press Club, the group of environmentalists and communication
professionals sought to shake the conscience of the people and the powers that
be to the stark reality – plundering of the hills under the garb of quarrying,
large scale destruction of mangroves and grab of wetlands.

“Mumbai and its surroundings
will face a terrible environmental disaster if the all round wanton destruction
continues,” said Nandakumar Pawar, director of NGO Shri Ekavira Aai Pratishthan
(SEAP), speaking at the seminar powered by communication professionals’ body
Public relations Council of India (PRCI).

The Parsik Hill range in
Navi Mumbai has already suffered an irreparable damage due to reckless
quarrying with some hills facing the danger of extinction. The forest quarrying
has been stopped department is on record complaining against massive violation
of quarrying norms by unscrupulous operators in CIDCO area of Navi Mumbai. As
much as 264.1 hectares has been mined against the permissible area of 138.07
hectares, the deputy conservator of forests, Thane, said during a recent
meeting of te district level environment assessment authority.

The Authority has ordered a
joint study by forest department and CIDCO while according a conditional
clearance to private company for mining the hills in two hectares at Borivali
village in Navi Mumbai even as a group of residents protested against quarrying
of Parsik Hills in another area, Kharghar.

In yet another case, in Uran
large-scale quarrying has been destroying the hills, apart from causing huge
dust pollution.

“We are aware that stone
chips are needed for infrastructure. We are not against development, but our
concern is it should not happen at the cost environment damage,” said B N
Kumar, Chairman of governing council of PRCI said.

Pawar said he recently drew
the attention of CIDCO and forest officials to the fact that mangroves are
being destroyed by dumping tones of debris. Large chunks of wetlands are also
being reclaimed illegally in Uran area, he said.

Turning to the island City’s
mangrove crisis, he said the authorities ought to have planted over 93,000 saplings
over 21 acres in Manori. Sadly, just about 20% of these barely survived. At
Charkop, the situation is even worse. Of the 86,400 saplings hardly 5%
survived.

Pawar claimed that the
authorities manage to get reprieve at courts by saying that they will replant
to make up for the mangroves destroyed due infrastructure development. In
reality, they manage to mislead the judiciary as mangroves are supposed to grow
naturally and they are not replanted.

“I am a fisherman by birth
and I know the importance of mangroves,” he said and remarked: “Sadly these
officers are either unaware of the basic facts or deliberately ignore the
environmental care,” he remarked. Mangroves survive only in mudflaps and where
there are ideal conditions to grow and not in rocky area. “This is
commonsense,” he remarked.

Referring to quarry
permission with conditions such as maintenance of green belt, prevention of
dust and particle pollution and conducting of lung functional tests of workers,
he said: “it is anybody’s guess as to what extent these will be complied with.”

“You do not need expert
committees to study the ground realities of these areas,” he said and explained:
“A visit to Charkop or Manori will show you the mangrove tragedy, a drive on
Sion-Panvel highway between Turbhe and Belapur is good enough to see the
plundering of the hills on the left side, behind the Thane- Belapur industrial
belt and come to Uran and we will show you the destruction of the nature in
broad daylight.”

Adv Girish Raut of NGO Save
Earth said as it is thousands of mangroves have destroyed for development in
BKC and other parts of the city. Globally, several warnings have been issued
against the dangers of global warming which is irreversible. Yet the urban
planners do not seem to realize the perils of destruction of the nature.

Mr Himanshu Prem
Joshi under whose leadership a vast green belt has been developed on a garbage
dump, said it is the duty of each and every citizen to be alert against
the destruction of nature and the need to preserve it. “The Bhavana Nature and
Adventure Centre project at Andheri is a shining example of preserving the
nature,” he said.

The speakers pointed out
that the Girgaum Chowpatty floods and Mitthi River tragedy are still fresh in
the people’s memory and we are yet to
learn the lesson that we are not supposed to play with the nature.”